Brazos County Commissioners Receive Pandemic Requests

The end of the Bryan city council’s March meeting included a statement read by a member of a group attempting to remove the Texas Avenue median and attributed to mayor Bobby Gutierrez. The mayor agreed with the statement read by Jack Robbins, that the Texas department of Transportation (TxDOT) is willing to work with the city to remove the median. Robbins also quoted Gutierrez about the future TxDOT widening of FM 1179 east of Boonville Road, that the mayor will not sign off on a design that includes medians. Gutierrez said if the design of expanding 1179 is “a double lane road with a median down the middle, well that doesn’t work.” The mayor said if the design of expanding 1179 “is a divided highway with medians in it, that might work.” Gutierrez also said the city is in jeopardy of losing federal funding for expanding 1179. Click below to hear comments from the March 18, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.  

The College Station ISD school board awards one contract for expanding and renovating two campuses. There was a unanimous vote at the March 18th meeting on the administration’s recommendation of upcoming construction at College Station High School (CSHS) and Rock Prairie elementary at a guaranteed maximum price of $56,850,715. Click HERE to read a CSISD memo summarizing the action taken at the March 18, 2025 CSISD board meeting. The CSHS project, starting April 1, includes an addition affecting all four corridors totaling 103,400 square feet. This consists of science labs, classrooms, and space for career and technical education, fine arts, and athletics. The Rock Prairie project, also slated to start April 1, includes 4,600 square feet of new administration space, a full renovation of the existing building, and a longer driveway for student drop off and pick up. Facilities director Paul Buckner said combining the projects generated more competitive bids. Buckner also said adopting the recommendations of the construction company to do all four corridors at CSHS at the same time reduced the project timeline by six months and resulted in cost savings of $100,000 dollars. These projects were part of voter approved bond issue in November 2023. Click below to hear comments from the March 18, 2025 CSISD board meeting.

A federal judge is allowing a drag show to take place on the Texas A&M campus this Thursday (March 27). Monday’s (March 24) opinion blocks the A&M system from enforcing a ban that was enacted by the board of regents on February 28. WTAW News has asked a system spokesperson if there will be an appeal of the preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. The order from judge Lee Rosenthal of Houston says “Nowhere is free speech more important than in our leading institutions of higher learning. Colleges and universities serve as the founts of—and the testing grounds for—new ideas. Their chief mission is to equip students to examine arguments critically and, perhaps even more importantly, to prepare young citizens to participate in the civic and political life of our democratic republic.” Rosenthal also wrote that “the law requires the recognition and application of speech rights and guardrails that preserve and protect all our treasured First Amendment rights.” She also considers drag shows as theatrical performances, which are “long and well established protective forms of expressive conduct” that are “not held to a drastically different standard than other forms of speech under the first amendment.” The 29 page opinion also says “anyone who finds the performance or performers offensive has a simple remedy: don’t go.” Click HERE to read and download the memorandum and opinion as posted on the website of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the attorneys representing the organization holding the March 27 drag show at Texas A&M.